The Note Of Mystery
by Jajjo
Summary: Jasper Whitlock receives a mysterious note on Christmas Eve. He lets his curiosity take over and follows the note in hope of finding the sender. Instead he finds himself in the middle of a small scavenger hunt. (oneshot)


**A/N: **Hi! So as terrible as I am with updating my other stories I did manage to write a short oneshot for the secret santa fic swap.  
Just something short and cute with our beloved Jasper & Alice.

I hope you enjoy. And remember: reviews are adored.**  
**

* * *

**The Note Of Mystery**

_Written by Jajjo_

_Add a bolder text on that part, make that picture slightly smaller..._

Jasper Whitlock sat in his office, preparing the last of his marketing presentation that was due in a few hours.

"Jasper, I'm heading out." Emmett McCarty popped his head into his best friend's office. He was still rather amazed that they've pulled off their deadline. Promising your boss that you could do a presentation on such short notice was a bad idea. But somehow, with Jasper's creativity and Emmett's computer skills they'd made it with a few minutes to spare. "Dude, did you hear me?"

Jasper looked up from his computer screen and gave Emmett a half smile. "Yeah, sorry. I was just going through some of our slides one more time."  
"Shut down the computer, Jazz. We're done. It's time to celebrate. And I don't know about you, but I plan on celebrating by going home to my wife and getting Christmas started."  
Jasper shutdown down his laptop and stood up. "You're right. Christmas sounds pretty darn good after these last few stress filled days. Give my best to Rosie, will you?"  
"Sure. What time are we having dinner with your parents tomorrow?"  
"Dinner should be served at five. And please remind my darling little sister that mom hates it when one of us is late."  
"Tell her yourself. You really think I'm going to anger my wife on Christmas by telling her that her big brother—my best friend—wants her to spend less time on clothes and more time on getting to your parents house?"  
Chuckling, Jasper shrugged. "Just get her there on time."  
"Whatever, dude. I'm out of here. See you tomorrow." Giving him a small nod, Emmett turned around and headed towards the elevators.

~oOo~

A few moments later, Jasper was gathering the last of his things and was ready to leave the office when he spotted the envelope on his desk.  
_Right. Almost forgot. _  
Pulling out his chair, Jasper sat down and picked up the envelope. He opened it and pulled out a small note with elegant handwriting on it.

_You're not going home yet, Jasper. You still have things to do.  
Start by going to Kate's bakery.  
_

Jasper frowned. He had been expecting a Christmas card from one of his co-workers. But instead he had gotten a cryptic message that made absolutely no sense to him. Why on earth would he need to go to Kate's bakery? And why did the handwriting look so familiar?  
_Just ignore it. Probably one of Emmett's pranks. _  
Then again, Emmett was not capable of writing with such elegant handwriting.  
_Damn it. _  
Whoever wrote that letter knew that Jasper's biggest weakness was his curiosity. Picking up his briefcase, Jasper hit the lights in his office and headed towards the elevators. The bakery wasn't far from here. He could still go there and make it home with plenty of time to spare.

~oOo~

Opening the door to the bakery, Jasper inhaled the wonderful smell of freshly baked bread and coffee.  
_Yum._  
Kate Denali, the owner of the bakery, smiled as she saw him.  
"Jasper, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be home celebrating?"  
_Tell me about it. _  
"Hi, Kate." Jasper let his eyes skim the shelves that were filled with freshly baked goods. "I just got off work and was sent here." Holding up the note, Jasper took a few steps towards Kate before handing it over to her. She examined it with a small smile.  
"That's right. I'd forgotten about this one already. I asked Garrett to remind me, but I guess it slipped his mind. Give me a few seconds and I'll get your order."  
_My order? _  
Nodding numbly, Jasper watched Kate go into the backroom. A few minutes later, she emerged with a package in one hand and a toddler in her other arm.  
"Jasper, you remember my daughter Irina, don't you?"  
"Of course." Jasper smiled toward the little girl. She was just over two years old—if he remembered correctly—and looked more and more like her mother every time that Jasper saw her. "Hi, sweetheart. How are you doing?"  
Irina looked up at Jasper with big eyes. "Hello."  
She looked rather scared in Jasper's opinion. Not that he blamed her. Kids rarely liked Jasper. They found him, for some odd reason, terrifying. "So you had an order for me?"  
Kate nodded. "Yes, here you go. It's already paid for."  
Well, that was something at least. Imagine having to pay for something that you didn't even know was ordered. Jasper smiled and took the package from Kate. "Thanks. I should be getting home. You guys have a merry Christmas."  
Kate frowned. "Don't you want your next clue?"  
"My what?"  
Kate laughed. "Clue. As in a similar piece of paper that you handed to me a few moments ago." She pulled out a small envelope and handed it to Jasper. "Don't worry, I didn't read it."  
_Well, that's mighty nice of you. _  
Smiling timidly, Jasper opened the envelope.

_Good boy.  
Next, go to the nearest liquor store for your next clue.  
_

Slipping the note back into the envelope, Jasper looked at Kate who was smiling.  
"Don't suppose you want to tell me who dropped off this note?"  
Kate shook her head and brought her finger up to her lips in a silencing gesture.  
Rolling his eyes, Jasper let the envelope fall into his jacket pocket before collecting his things from the counter. "Right, I better go. The nearest liquor store is a few blocks away."

~oOo~

The liquor store was rather quiet. Not so surprising considering that most people would be home with their loved ones by now.  
_You should be home as well. _  
"Hello, may I help you?" A store clerk in his sixties looked at Jasper from behind a shelf with a polite smile.  
Jasper closed the door to the store behind him. "Um, yes. I think I'm supposed to pick something up. I have this…" Pulling out the envelope from his pocket, Jasper handed the note to the store clerk. Of course, the old man only smiled and nodded.  
"That's right! I was beginning to wonder if you were going to show up. It would be a shame if your order was paid for in vain. If you will follow me to the counter." Gesturing for Jasper to come with him, the store clerk made his way to a small counter with an old-fashioned cash register on it. He rounded the desk and bent down to fetch something. Jasper bit his lip absentmindedly before leaning against the counter and clearing his throat.  
"You want to tell me what I'm picking up? I assume it's some sort of alcohol." The man got back up and Jasper raised his eyebrow.  
"Yes, yes, here it is. A bottle of Merlot. Is this what you wanted?" Holding the bottle out to Jasper, the man smiled proudly as if he had just done a very good deed. Of course, he couldn't possibly have known that Jasper had no idea what he was supposed to _want_ from this store. Not wanting to be rude, though, Jasper smiled and nodded before taking the bottle out of the man's hands.  
"Yes, thank you." Tucking the bottle under his arm, Jasper looked up again at the old man. "It's paid for already, isn't it?" The man just nodded and Jasper had to resist the urge to roll his eyes at him. "And I assume there is an envelope for me as well?"  
The old man's eyes widened before he started to move some papers around behind the counter. "Yes, I had already forgotten about the note. Let me see, I know I put it here somewhere—" he kept on mumbling to himself while he looked. Jasper glanced at his clock quickly before clearing his throat just as the man gave a small laugh and put an envelope on the counter top. "Here we are!"  
Thanking the man, Jasper took the envelope.  
_Better not be another clue. _  
Of course, holding the note in his hand, Jasper didn't even have to read it to know that he wasn't done yet.

_Good, you got the wine.  
Now please go to the following address:_

_1420 5th Avenue  
_

Looking up from the note, Jasper gazed at the store clerk. "Who gave this to you?"  
The old man only shrugged and gestured towards the door.  
Sighing, Jasper tried to plaster on a polite smile. "Got it. I'm going. Thank you for…holding on to my order."  
The man smiled, clearly not sensing the sarcasm in Jasper's voice "You are most welcome, young boy. Have a nice evening!"

~oOo~

"1420 5th Avenue..." murmuring the address to himself over and over again, Jasper looked out the cab window. Why was he even doing this? He should be home, having dinner. Or reading one of his favorite western novels.  
"Sir, we're here."  
Looking at the cab driver, Jasper cleared his thoughts before handing over the fare money and getting out.  
Jasper's first thought was that it was quiet. There was a restaurant in front of him but it was empty. In fact, the whole neighborhood seemed rather abandoned. Nothing like the last time he had been here. Back then the restaurant had been filled with people, and Jasper had been one of them.  
_Well it's five pm on Christmas Eve. _  
A small and annoying voice was building up in the back of Jasper's mind. As another second passed on the empty streets, Jasper grew more and more certain that Emmett had somehow tricked him. Why else would he be out here? Clearly Emmett had remembered the significance of this restaurant to Jasper.  
"I'm going to kill him tomorrow."  
Footsteps echoed behind him and Jasper turned around abruptly. A small figure was getting closer to him.  
_Too small to be Emmett. _  
Focusing his gaze on the moving figure, Jasper could make out red heels and a black coat with a hood.  
_A woman._  
The woman got closer and Jasper tried desperately to get a glimpse of her face that was masked behind the hood.  
"Hello?" He took a step forward. The woman stopped a few meters away from him and reached out with her hand. She stood there with her hand extended and Jasper frowned. Did she want him to take her hand?  
Reluctantly he reached out with his hand and took another step forward so that he could touch her. As their hands touched, the woman giggled and pulled herself closer to Jasper, bouncing to a stop in front of him and tilting her head upwards.  
And revealing her face.  
Jasper's eyes widened. "Alice?"  
His wife smiled excitedly at him as she pulled down her hood. "Hi, hubby." Letting another giggle slip from her lips, Alice Whitlock let go of Jasper's hand so that she could place her arms around his waist instead. "Surprised?"  
Still processing, Jasper looked down at his wife. "Yeah, I am." He watched her smile grow wider and he felt how her arms circled his waist in a warm and familiar way. "I don't understand. I thought you wouldn't be home until midnight?"  
Alice shrugged. "The fashion shoot wrapped early so I got on an earlier flight. I hope that's okay?" She batted her eyelashes innocently before she felt Jasper's arms go around her and lifting her up from the ground.  
He was smiling as he hugged his wife closer to him. "Of course it's all right. God, I thought Emmett was messing with me, sending me around town to collect meaningless things."  
Alice gasped, and placed one of her hands on Jasper's shoulder to steady herself as he put her down. "Well, in all fairness, I did have Emmett run around town to set everything up. And I had Rosalie write your clues."  
_So that's why the handwriting looked so familiar._  
Jasper traced his fingers along Alice's cheek. "Then I suppose I have to thank them. This is the best surprise I have ever gotten." He could feel Alice smile under his fingertips.  
"I'm glad." She looked at him lovingly before standing up on her tiptoes and gently touching her lips to his for a few seconds. "So I imagine you got the wine and the cake from the bakery?"  
Nodding, Jasper held up a plastic bag that he had gotten from the liquor store. "Yup." He pecked her cheek before adding. "So it's cake, huh? I was actually betting on cookies."  
Laughing, Alice took the bag from him. "Not just any cake. Same one we had on our first date. Remember, you took me to Kate's bakery and told me to pick out anything I wanted?"  
"And you picked out an entire cake that we somehow managed to eat right up. Not to mention that afterward, you still managed to have dinner with me at this restaurant." Jasper smiled at the memory. He could almost have sworn that _that_ was the moment he knew that Alice was his soul mate.  
Alice looked at her daydreaming husband and snickered. "So I still have one more package for you."  
Jasper looked at her again with a curious expression on his face. "Oh yeah?"  
Nodding, Alice pulled out a small package from her purse. "Mhm. But unfortunately you won't get to see it until later tonight." She watched his expression sadden and she laughed. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. Would it help if I told you that it will be worth the wait?"  
Jasper pursed his lips. "I don't know. Do you want to give me a hint of what the package includes?" He watched her roll her eyes.  
"Let's just say that as a creative editor of a huge fashion magazine, I can get away with taking some of the clothes with me home."  
Jasper raised his eyebrow. "I thought you guys were doing a lingerie shoot?"  
Tucking all the things into her purse, Alice let her arms slide around her husband again as she leaned closer. "We did." A seductive smile played on her lips, growing as she watched Jasper fill in the blanks as his expression changed when he realized what was in the package.  
"So…" He cleared his throat. "I suppose we should be getting home then? So that, you know, we can get on with opening up that package."  
Laughing again, Alice nodded. "You're right. We should definitely get home." She pulled away enough to offer Jasper her hand, but Jasper only shook his head and pulled Alice to his side, placing one of his arms around her shoulders.  
"I'm glad your home, Ali." He kissed the top of her head and she leaned against him.  
"Me too, Jasper. Merry Christmas." She could feel him smile into her hair as they started walking along the street towards their house.  
"Merry Christmas, Alice."


End file.
